5 lessons marketers can learn from romantic comedies

How rom-coms can inspire your video marketing strategy

Think romantic comedies are just mindless fluff? Think again—it turns out they’re chock full of lessons that you can apply to your video marketing strategy. Grab a bucket of popcorn and keep reading to find out how your next trip to the movies could jumpstart your work.

Lesson 1: Follow the formula (campaign templates)

Sure, critics give rom-coms a hard time for being formulaic; but why mess with a good thing? The same applies to marketing: don’t reinvent the wheel for every video campaign. You should have a good feel for what works (if you don’t, the data will tell you), so take what you’ve learned and start making templates. Create a repeatable timeline and a bill of materials (aka a list of required assets) for each type of campaign. This will save you time and brainpower, so you can focus on coming up with creative new concepts.

Lesson 2: Know your audience (target personas)

Ever notice how the trailers you see at the theater seem to be well-tailored to the audience for that movie? It’s no accident. Movie-makers know exactly who’s going to be interested in a movie long before it hits the screen. You may not be creating trailers for your video campaigns, but you should know who they’re targeting before you even start creating them. Gather your market research and build a portfolio of user and buyer personas, with examples of messaging that apply to each of them.

Lesson 3: Give the people what they want (customer-focused content)

If moviegoers want to be scared, they go to a horror movie. If they want to have an existential crisis, they stay home and watch Black Mirror. When it comes to rom-coms, the audience wants a couple of good-looking leads who are kept apart by insurmountable circumstances and funny hijinks until the last five minutes, when everything gets tied up neatly. And when it comes to marketing, your prospects want content that’s going to help them do their jobs, not a sales pitch. So make sure the content you’re serving them adds value to their day, whether it’s a how-to guide, a downloadable guide, or a fun and engaging blog post (hint hint).

Lesson 4: A little conflict doesn’t hurt (lead with challenges)

Like I said above, rom-coms generally include a whole host of circumstances that keep their leads apart until the very end. Those challenges keep the audience invested and engaged—and addressing the challenges your audience is facing will keep them engaged too. Lead the conversation by reminding your audience of their pain points and showing that you understand. Of course, this lesson only works if the product you’re marketing can solve their challenges, which brings me to my last point...

Lesson 5: Don’t skip the feel-good ending (present solutions)

Rom-coms always end optimistically. It leaves the audience feeling hopeful for the future—and your marketing should too. It’s tempting to focus on your product, but the most successful marketers know that their audience cares more about solutions. Once you’ve reminded them of the challenges they’re facing at work, show them an easy way to solve those challenges (with your product, of course).